Bail and attaching-ears for pans.



T. H. ROUGHTON.

BAIL AND ATTAGHING EARS FOR PANS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV.18,1913.

1,126,658. Patented Jan. 26, 1915.

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THOMAS H. BOUGHTON, 0F MONTE VISTA, COLORADO, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOJONATHAN E. SMITH, 0F MONTE VISTA, COLORADO.

BAIL AND ATTACHING-EARS FOR FANS.

Application filed November 18, 1913.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, THOMAS H. ROUGH- TON, a citizen of the United Statesof America, residing at Monte Vista, county of Rio Grande, and State ofColorado, have invented a new and useful Bail and Attaching-Ears forPans, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to an improved rigidly attaching and collapsiblecombined bail and supporting ear for pans for furnaces, stoves,fire-boxes, and for pans an receptacles for other purposes; and theobjects of my invention are: First, to provide a combined bail andsupporting ear for ash pans and other receptacles that will permit themto be raised and carried in a substantially horizontal or levelnon-swinging or tilting position when their contents are either evenlyor unevenly distributed them, so that they will not tilt and sp1ll theircontents. Second, to provide a rigid pan carrying but collapsible bailfor ash pans and other receptacles that will permit them to be carriedin a rigid non-swinging position, and that is swingingly movable orcollapsible into such a position of disuse against the pan as to bereadily and easily grasped by the hand of an operator whenever it isdesired to lift and carry the pan.

I attain these objects by the mechanism illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Figure 1, is a perspective view of an ash pan equipped with my improvedbail and bail-attaching ear, the bail being folded down out of operativeposition, its handle portion resting on one end of the pan. Fig. 2, is alongitudinal sectional view of the pan, showing the bail in its verticalor opeither evenly or unevenly distributed in such manner as to preventtilting of the pan when lifted by the said bail. Fig. 8, is a transversevertical sectional view through the pan and bail-attaching ears, showingthe bail in the same position as in Fig. 2. And Fig. 4, is a perspectiveview of one of the bail-attaching ears.

Similar letters of reference refer to similar parts throughout theseveral views.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented J an. 2%, 1915.

Serial No. 801,685.

Referring to the draWings,-the numeral 1 designates an ash pan such asis used in the ash pit portions of furnaces to catch the ashes from thegrate of-the furnace.

Ash pans have long been used provided with swinging bails. 'lheseltowever permit the pan to tip up, if there is more ashes, andconsequently more weight in one end of the pan than in the other end,which is apt to most generally be the case, and permit the ashes tospill out of the pan, and the essential ob ect of my invention is toprovide a bail for ash pans that will hold them in in a rigid level orsubstantially horizontal position regardless of whether the weight ofash contents is evenly or unevenly distributed in them.

In carrying out my invention, I preferably place the bail within the ashpan, as illustrated, and arrange it so that it will swing wholly downinside of the pan when not in operative use in the hand of an operator,with the exception of the hand grasping portion of the bail, which ispreferably arranged to rest against the top edge of the adjacent end ofthe pan, and the ears are preferably positioned closer to one end of thepan than to the other in order to allow the bail to rest on the top ornearest end when it is swung down into a position of disuse, and the endof the pan the bail rests on naturally becomes the front end of the panwhen inserting it in the ash pit of a furnace. The bail and itssupporting cars can however be positioned on the outside of the oppositesides of the ash pan, if desired.

In carrying out the preferred construction and arrangement of myinvention, I arrange the bail and ears in the following manner: To theinside surface of the opposite sides of an ash pan 1, I secure by anysuitable means, preferably by rivets 2, which extend through them andthe sides of the pan, a pair of bail supporting ear clips 3. These bailsupporting ear clips are thin strips of metal, preferably sheet iron,the lower end portion of each of which is bent into a right angledoffset portion 4, which is riveted against the side of the pan,

and this right angled offset portion causes the upper end portion 5 ofthese clips to stand at a suliicient distance away from the adjacentsides of the pan to permit the inner end portions of a wire bail toswing loosely between the upper ends of the ears and the adjacent sidesof the pan.

The upper ends of the ears are provided with vertical slots 6, the lowerends of which extend into a round aperture 7, which forms the pivotalaperture of the bail in the ears, and the slot, and these pivotalapertures are made enough larger in diameter than the bail to allow theends of the bail to move loosely in them.

The lower portion of the vertical members 5 of each ear is also providedwith a bail receiving slot 8, which is in alinement with the verticalslot 6, and also extends into the horizontal portions 9 of the ears,thus forming L-shaped slots which are partly in the vertical members 5and partly in the horizontal bends 9 of the ears. To these cars I attacha bail 10, which comprises a single piece of substantially U- shapedwire, the closed end 11 of which is straightened into a hand graspingportion. The free or inner ends of this bail, extend between the earsand the sides of the pan, to the round pivotal apertures 7, of the ears,where they are bent inward to form a short right angled portion 12, thatextends loosely through the pivotal apertures 7, and beyond these bends12, the ends are again bent at right angles to the bends l2, and in linewith the sides of the bail to form short straight portions 13, whichextend below the horizontal bends 9 of the ears, and terminate in shortoutwardly bent right angled ends, which form hooks 14:, which arearranged to engage the upper ends of the vertical slots 8, when the bailis swung up into a vertical operative position, as will be presentlydescribed, the portions 13 of the bail extending far enough beyond thebails pivotal aperture 7, to permit its hooks 14 to swing clear of thehorizontal bend of the clip when the bail is raised and swung up fromits position of rest against the end of the pan to its vertical positionof use, and its extreme or hooked ends are raised up through thehorizontal portion of the slot 8, and into the vertical portion thereof,in which position it is held rigidly against swinging pivotal movementin either direction and holds the pan in a rigid substantially level andhorizontal position when the handle of the bail is grasped by anoperator.

The operation of my improved bail and its cooperating cars, is asfollows: The bail normally rests on the top edge of the nearest end ofthe pan, it being made of a length to extend there from the ears, andthe pan is inserted in the ash pit of the furnace with the bail swungdown at rest on the edge of the pan where it is handy. Then when it isdesired to remove the pan from the ash pit, the operator can take holdof the handle part of the bail, draw the pan toward him, and swing thebail upward into its vertical position, and raise it up in its slotuntil its terminal ends enter the notches when the bail is locked to theears in its right angled position to the pan, and the pan is locked toit rigidly against pivotal or tilting action, and when the bail is thuslocked in its ears, the pan is held when carried by the bail in a levelor substantially level position, and cannot tilt and spill out theashes.

My invention is also applicable to dishes and receptacles for materialor liquids that it is desired to carry by a rigid bail 'or handle, andat the same time require a collapsible bail or handle that can belowered sub- 'stantially or wholly level with the pan, as

it can be readily seen that the bail can be made short enough to swingdown wholly within the pan if desired, but it is handier to looselygrasp if it is arranged to swing down on top of the end of the pan.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. The combination with a pan, of a pair of bail attaching ears,comprising plates secured at their lower end to the pan, and beinginwardly and upwardly bent above the securing points to form L-shapedmembers, the vertical portions of which have slots in their lower endswhich extend into the inwardly bent portions, and slots above and inline with the first-mentioned slots and a bail bent near its lower endsto form abrupt shoulders which lie in the latter slots and parts whichlie parallel with the inner faces of said vertical portions andterminate in outwardly turned hooks which pass through the slots in thelower ends of the vertical portions, said bail being slidable in saidupper slots.

2. The combination with a pan, of cars secured thereto having upper andlower slots in line, the lower ends of said ears having horizontal bendsthrough which said lower slots extend, and a bail having hooked endswhich extend through said lower slots, and shoulder portions whichextend through said upper slots, said shoulder portions be ing slidablein the upper slots.

3. The combination with a pan of cars secured thereto, which are bentabove their attached portions to form short horizontal portions andrelatively long vertical portions, said vertical portions havingVertical slots near their upper ends and slots which are formed partlyin their lower ends and partly in the horizontal portions, and a bail,the ends of which are bent to form ofiset portions, which terminate inhooked ends, shoulders being formed at the junction of the offsetportions, and main portions of the bail, which are slidably mounted inthe vertical slots 1n the upper portions of the ears, the hooked endbeing adapted to en- In testimony whereof I atfix my signature inpresence of two Witnesses.

THOMAS H. ROUGHTON.

Witnesses:

JONATHAN H. SMITH, LULU T. SoUTHWoR'rH.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

